Breakdown
by TheBlondeWhoWaited
Summary: Jade Smith has an idyllic life, a loving family and a husband who adores her but ever since her breakdown three years ago everywhere she goes she sees and hears a strangely familiar man called The Doctor. As everyone around her dismisses The Doctor as a product of the breakdown Jade can't help but begin to wonder if he is more?
1. Chapter 1

"_beep beep!"_

Jade rolled over to face her alarm, she turned her head and squinted her eyes. It was 6 o'clock. She raised her hand and let it come down on the alarm like a ton of bricks. She had grown to hate the repetitive beep the machine made each morning. With a tired yawn and weary eyes she managed to pull herself upward and out of bed. Once her eyes had adjusted to the natural sunlight that was pouring into her bedroom from the window opposite her, she turned to face her husband Garry, still snoring away peacefully.

_"Well there's a surprise"_ She thought to herself sarcastically, while rolling her eyes upward. She got up and retrieved her dressing gown from the end of the bed and made her way downstairs to make breakfast.

As she made yet another failed attempt to quietly retrieve the pan from the bottom cupboard she let out yet another yawn.

"Why did I promise them pancakes?" She sighed as she pulled herself up to the counter. As she flipped through her cookbook hunting for the recipe she reached to her left and switched on the radio.

"Jade? Jade can you hear me?" A voice shouted from the radio with urgency, Jade grabbed the counter, her eyes shut tight. "Jade it's me, it's The Doctor!" the voice continued. Jade's eyes snapped open, she had breathing heavily.

"Jade, it's...can...Doctor...Today will be very nice, with sun throughout and temperatures of- " She flicked the radio off. Still shaken from what had happened, she raced to the living room, and reached for the top shelf of the bookshelf. She pulled her diary from the self and, with her hand still shaking scribbled:

_"Heard The Doctor through the radio 6:30 am Tuesday the 14" _

Gary came downstairs with their two children John and Mary. Jade smiled lovingly at her family, they had a simple life, but it was a happy one. Mary ran up to her mother tears in in eyes, she reached upwards. Jade bent down to give her daughter a reassuring hug.

"What if no one likes me mum?" Mary asked quietly.

"They will" Jade laughed, "You are the only Mary Smith in the whole wide world, there is no one else like you. School is fun, you find out all the weird and interesting things about the planet and the people on it. Just think of it as a big new adventure, this is the first step."

Mary buried her head in her mothers hair, Jade clutched her daughter tightly and whispered,

"and I will always be here for you, I love you very much."

Feeling left out John and Gary joined and the whole family had a moment together, sharing a hug with each other. Jade always wanted to remember these little precious moments together so she made a mental note and stored it away. Escaping from her children's grasp, she returned to the cookbook and turned the page to the right recipe.

"So who wants pancakes?" she sang.

As Gary strapped the two children into his car he turned to Jade,

"I've got an appointment today." She said to him in a hushed voice, she didn't want the kids to hear. Gary gave her a reassuring smile and pulled her towards him, they met each other in the middle and kissed. Jade could see Mary and John making faces of disgust and horror at the public display of affection their parents were sharing and she giggled.

"It'll be fine, if you need me phone I'll come pick you up, okay?" John asked, She nodded in acceptance and waved them off as Gary drove the kids to school. Jade watched them drive off into the distance and feel her safety and happiness fading with them. She sighed deeply and headed back inside to get dressed.

"Come in" A voice called from behind the door. Jade slowly turned the handle and made her way into Dr. Turnbull's office. She spotted her a mile off, sitting at her old oak desk writing away furiously as she always did. Dr. Turnbull smiled warmly at Jade as she sat in her normal seat opposite her.

"So Jade" She said putting down her pen "How have you been this week?"

"Fine, good." She replied automatically, Dr. Turnbull studied her and noticed she was clutching her diary in her hands.

"I take it, he's been making a reappearance then" she said, indicating towards the diary in her hands.

Jade felt panicked again, she started have short quick breaths. She looked down at the diary in her hands, opened it and nodded.

"Seven times this week. That's a lot more than usual, at least once everyday." She said re-reading her notes.

_"Wednesday the 8th – Saw him on the TV, couple of seconds."_

_"Thursday the 9th -While listening to ipod, said "Jade" twice throughout the song"_

_"Friday the 10th – TV again, still no audio, longer than last time._

_"Saturday the 11th – Twice 1st at 5 pm on the radio, again said "Jade", then again at 9 same radio."_

_Sunday the 12th – Again on the TV audio this time- still just saying "Jade" _

"Along with the new entry today, that's 7 times" she said handing Dr. Turnbull her notes. She read and took a copy of them, once she stopped she looked up at Jade, as if she was trying to find the right words to say.

"Have you been under any more stress recently Jade?" She quizzed slowly.

"Well.." Jade scrambled her thoughts, apart from the constant calling from The Doctor nothing was really worrying her, then she thought of an excuse.

"Well Mary started School this morning." She said avoiding Dr. Turnbull's gaze.

"Well that's the cause then" Dr. Turnbull said confidently "The Doctor is only returning because you've been worrying about her going to school. You're under more mental stress, it's perfect normal all parents worry about their children, you'll never stop, trust me." She laughed.

Jade smiled in agreement, although she liked Dr. Turnbull she could help but feel that she was dismissive of The Doctor.

"It's ok. It's normality, family life. It's just what you need after your breakdown, but if it gets too much you have my number yes?" She asked again, she did that every week,

"Yep, on speed dial" Jade answered, trying to sound cheerful.

"Good" Dr. Turnbull smiled as she handed the dairy back to Jade "Soon enough you'll forget all about The Doctor, and every thing will be fine." She smiled.

Jade thanked her for the session and left, Dr. Turnbull returned to her writing as soon as she had got up out of her seat. As Jade closed the door behind her she had never felt so isolated. She headed for the bathroom, wanting to compose herself before she ventured outside. The bathroom was empty, Jade faced the mirror and started to fiddle with her long, brown hair. Her green eyes studied every inch of her appearance.

"He must be real." she thought "He feels real, he can't just be some product of a mental breakdown. That was three years ago for god sake." Her eyes widened. She flinched as her phone called out quite suddenly from her handbag, she burred her hands down into it to try and retrieve the phone. Once she had grabbed it she glanced at the screen to see who was calling, it was Gary. She sighed happily as she pressed the answer button and turned back to the mirror.

Suddenly her grip loosened and Jade's phone was plummeting towards the marble floor beneath her feet. Jade stood glued to the floor, her green eyes fixated on the mirror. Instead of her brown hair, she saw him, The Doctor. He was a young, tall man. He too had brown hair, and sideburns. He was wearing a brown suit and had a long brown coat on over it.

"Jade... it's me. It's The Doctor. Jade can you hear me?" He was shouting, he sounded almost as panicked as she was. "Jade, please, come back. Jade are you there?"

Jade watched silently as The Doctor faded and was replaced with her own terrified reflection, He had never come through a mirror before. Jade was still staring at the mirror when a small, thin blonde woman rushed in. She stopped when she saw Jade standing there, after looking her up and down she proceeded on into the cubicle. Jade bent down and got her phone, Gary had hung up. She placed the phone back in her bag as she made her way to leave, she turned back to the mirror.

As she left the building Jade couldn't help but wonder about what Dr. Turnbull had said:

_"you're under mental stress_".

Jade began to wonder just exactly who The Doctor was and if he was a product of a breakdown or if he was in fact real.


	2. Chapter 2

Before she made it to the end of the street Jade heard a screeching of tires behind her. She turned to see Garry falling out of the car and stumbling towards her.

"Are you okay?" he gasped.

"oh my god, yes" She moaned. If she was honest after three years of having people asking her if she was ok, Jade was beginning to get annoyed with it.

"okay, sorry. I was just..worried." Garry smiled apologetically. Jade giggled as he outstretched his arms for a hug. Jade was glad she had Garry, they had been through so much because of what had happened to her, it made her feel loved knowing that the man she loved stayed with her through her best and worst times in her life.

"Come on, let's go out" Garry said taking his wife's hand.

" but I thought you had work?"

"well they can manage for an hour or two" he smirked.

Jade and Garry went into town, to Jade's favourite little café. It was on the corner or Bridge street, it was a simple little spot, they had tea and cake. Jade liked tea. They sat at the window looking out at people passing in the street, everything was peaceful. Before long Garry had to back to work and Jade was left at a loss once more.

Later that evening, after dinner the family were trying to decide what dvd to watch, or rather John and Mary were. Jade took another mental note and stored that away.

"careful!" Garry called as the children were pushing and shoving next to the shelf's, and just as any parent would have predicted soon the two were stood side by side with a pile of dvds and books at their feet. Everyone helped to clean the mess, just as Jade was putting the last few books back to their places she heard a startling question.

"Mummy, who's The Doctor?"

Jade and Garry turned Mary, who was clutching at Jade's diary, She turned her attention upwards. As she expected it was not in it's usual place on top of the shelf, it must have fallen off. Jade reached out her hand to take the diary, but her attempt was foiled, by Garry who got their first.

His face became more worried the more he read through, no one spoke while he flicked through the many documented sighs of The Doctor.

"Children, choose a dvd and go to your rooms now please."

John took Mary's hand and grabbed the first dvd he layed eyes on and led his sister upstairs.

"Jade" Garry started not looking up from the pages, "are you okay?"

Jade felt a twinge of anger, she was sick of those three words, _are you okay?_

"Yes, I'm bloody okay. It was three years ago Garry, I'm fucking fine."

"oh really, then how come he's still hanging around then?" He responded slamming the book down on the coffee table.

"It's not like I want to see him, is it?"

"Well you keep on doing so."

"Fuck off Garry."

"Well it is kind of hard Jade, having a wife who...-" He cut himself off.

"what?" Jade whispered, her eyes winded, fearful of the end of his sentence.

"what?" she repeated louder "A nut-job? A freak? WHAT GARRY?"

"I wasn't going to say that"

"Well it sure sounded like that"

Garry sat down on the couch, his head hanging. He began to silently cry as Jade sat down beside him. Watching her husband breakdown made Jade weep too. She took both his hands in hers and smiled at him.

"I love you" Garry whispered.

Jade had never been so happy to hear him say that.

"I love you too" she cried.

"I don't think you are a nut-job" Garry started carefully " I just don't want to see you back there. You were so ill, so scared and I was scared, I didn't know if we'd ever get you back. It killed me seeing you so, fragile."

Jade sat speechless, she had always known that this whole issue had been tough on Garry, but she never really realised quite how much, until now.

"I'm sorry." She offered.

"Me too" he said.

Just then there was a frantic knocking on the door that made both Garry and Jade flinch a little. Confused they both made their way to the door, they weren't expecting anyone.

"did you?" Garry started to asked. Jade shook her head, looking just as confused as he did. Garry slowly opened the door. Jade grabbed her husbands hand as she saw who was standing at their door.

"Hello" Garry said to the stranger.

Jade held her breath and squeezed his hand tighter, so much that he turned to her frightened expression.

"What's wrong?" he immediately asked.

"It's him" she whispered, not taking her eyes from the man at the door. Garry turned back to the door."

"Hi, I'm The Doctor."


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor took one look at Jade, and pushed past Garry, taking Jade in a hug.

"Thank god you are safe." The Doctor said sighing relived. He pulled back, taking Jade's hand.

"Come on, we have to go."

"hold on a fucking minuet mate." Garry erupted, pushing The Doctor back out of the house.

"I don't know what kind of sick fuck you are but you leave my wife and family alone, get it?"

The Doctor gave him an apologetic smile and bowed his head, his eyes still fixated on a terrified Jade.

"Okay, sorry." and just like that he left.

Garry closed the door and turned to Jade, he was just as scared as she was.

"Come on, let's go to bed."

The next day Jade went back to see Dr. Turnbull and to tell her about the previous night's event. Jade couldn't help but feel uneasy, Garry tried to reassure her that it was just some local kid who was dared, but Jade wasn't so sure, when she was hugging the man, it felt real, he felt real. Not only that but it felt right, that she would hug The Doctor, not to mention he was exactly like the version of The Doctor that she had seen in the mirror in the bathroom that very day.

She pushed open the door to Dr. Turnbull's office and was welcomed by the empty space.

"She'll be right there, just go in" called the receptionist. Jade gave her a thankful nod and made her way to her normal seat.

She still didn't know what to tell Dr. Turnbull as she heard the door close behind, Jade sighed slightly nervous as to what she would think, what if she wanted to lock her up? Put her in hospital again? Jade couldn't bare that.

"Jade." a voice said softly and warmly. Jade recognised it, a man's voice. She got up and turned to see The Doctor standing at the door of the office.

"Get out."

"Jade" he said again, edging a little closer to her.

"Get the fuck out."

"listen, I know."

Jade grabbed a book from the desk and threw it at the man.

"You don't know shit, you're not real."

She stood facing the man, the more she stared at him, the more she began to feel safe in his company.

"Look let's just talk. Just sit and talk, me and you, okay?"

Jade gave him a weary look, and slowly sat back down in her chair. The man came and keeled beside her. She kept her eyes on him as he did so.

"Who are you?" she asked feeling like she knew the answer.

"I'm The Doctor."

"how come I keep seeing you everywhere?"

The man sighed, not quite knowing what to say, Jade felt sorry for him in a way but she still kept her cool.

"tell me."

"That was me in the TARDIS."

Jade had to double take, "the what?"

"The TARDIS, my ship. We travel together in it."

"no I have a husband and family." Said Jade, desperately, her voice cracking as if she was fighting the truth.

"Jade, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but they are not real."

Jade retched, she felt sick. How could they not be real? She got up sick with rage and anger.

"How fucking dare you. How? How can Mary and John not be real?"

"What?"

"Mary and John!" Jade screamed, tears rushing from her eyes as she held back the anger.

"Are those your children?" The Doctor asked hurriedly, stepping towards her, She pushed him back.

"Yes those are my children, my _real_ children. Mary and John Smith."

The Doctor smiled broadly and gave a small laugh, Jade was taken aback by this.

"don't you see? Your subconscious is telling you!" he cried gleefully.

"telling me what?" she asked confused

"those were the names we used when he got on that cruise ship run by slitheen. Remember, Mary and John Smith, we were married? "

Jade laughed weakly, " you are fucking sick."

She turned away from The Doctor and headed for the door.

"Jade, please, don't. You know this isn't real and I need you to come back to the TARDIS before-"

"No" screamed Jade. "It is real and I don't have to do anything, you have to leave me alone."

She ran out the office leaving The Doctor alone, his phone vibrated. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled it out, reading the message.

"_You have 2 hours left before we blow the ship up." _


End file.
